The 15 day long Chinese Lunar New Year festivities will draw to a close, with the Annual Lantern Festival - Yuanxiao Festival - heralding the first Full Moon of the Chinese New Year, in the Year of the Snake.
Read moreCHINESE NEW YEAR'S EVE - Chuxi
Brioschi54, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
If January’s New Year resolutions have fizzled out, tune into the Chinese New Year’s as the Year of the Wood Snake amps up on 29 Jan. 2025. Lunar New Year follows Moon (Luna) cycles therefore commencing with a New Moon. The upcoming lunation is the first New Moon AFTER the Winter Solstice which dictates the beginning of a Chinese New Year. It also kick starts the more widely known and celebrated of the Lunar New Year festivities - beginning a two week long Spring Festival. Li Chun is a Solar Festival marker and technically occurs on 4 Feb 2025, when the Chinese Solar New Year begins.
Read moreBefore Kondo, there was Kingston
I’ve remained tight lipped about the Kondō convos for a while now. But I’ve been prompted to chime in from a Feng Shui perspective.
Disclaimer, I’ve not read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up book by Marie Kondō but I’ve watched her Netflix series and encountered the KonMari social media frenzy. Admittedly, I tend to rebel against mainstream crazes, but when conducting my own personal annual preparations for the Solar New Year on Feb. 4th (not to be confused with Chinese Lunar New Year) I decided to check out the best selling author.
Read more12th Solar Term : Major Heat - Dà Shú
Long Hot Summer...... by Keven Law. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
☼ 12th Solar Term : Greater Heat (Dà Shú)
23 July ⎯ We’re now in the final increment of Summer, known as ‘Greater Heat ‘ (Dà Shú). This Solar term falls on 23 July in the Georgian calendar and correlates with the Sun’s ingress into the western Zodiacal sign of Leo. However Solar terms reign for an approximately a fortnight and ends 7 August, when we welcome Monkey month.
Read moreMISTLETOE , DRUIDS, JUPITER & SATURN
Image credit Mistletoe by Loriental Photography
I’ve been musing…. and it’s led me to Mistletoe’s door. Are we entering the Age of Mistletoe or The Return of the Druids? Mistletoe, the little freeloading plant that has remarkably synchronicities and on point themes that weaves a symbolic narrative of the prevailing astro weather. Even main stream media covering the cosmic skies with chatter of the Great Conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn; exact back on the December Solstice in 2020. My mistletoe musings unearthed some fascinating lore, far more interesting than stolen kisses, dare I say. And if we were living in bygone times the Xmas staple would be the Ancient’s secret weapon to this current health situation.
Read moreCHRISTMAS FENG SHUI STYLE
A few years ago, I received this message. “Aiming to get rid of all the Red Christmas decorations this year; any wise advice?” Well, as it so happened I did, hence the genesis of this post. In 2020 we had covid cancel culture overshadow Xmas, while Yuletide 2021 just about slipped through with Insta worthy bedecked trees the benchmark for success. Chrimbo 2022 danced with a credit crunch, as a global energy crisis forces light shows aficionados who overload the grid, to thankfully reconsider the visual assault on everyone’s senses, and owner’s hip pockets. Xmas 2023 — tested inflation. Xmas 2024, same same! Shopping malls may well be dripping with ubiquitous tinsel tinged displays . . . but has the “magic” that surrounds true Yuletide faded?
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